Only The Essentials

Hey there, guys! Today was a MUCH better day. SO much better. No more tears. hehe. Not that tears are such a bad thing. But they take a lot of energy out of a person - hehe :)

Anyway, I woke up around 9am, had breakfast, and chatted with my mom for a bit. And before I knew it, it was time to get ready to go to lunch with the girls! We were going to Chili's at 11am.

Here's a few pics of me before I left the house.

Our snow is mostly gone, but it's still SO cold!

I let the kid play electronics when I left the house, so they were SO happy for me to go - hehe. I was gonna go get my license plate tags before lunch, but ran out of time. AND Captain America called on Skype as I was driving across post, so I pulled over and chatted with him until around 11am. He's doing well, and it was nice to talk with him :)

And I was running late, but I made it there ok. Terra was there too, and we headed into the restaurant. Well, we tried. Chili's was closed. Whaaaat? It was after 11am. It SHOULD have been open...

I looked up the phone number on my Droid, and called them. And they said that they had lost power, but should be open any moment. So we went to the front door, and the manager came out, and said that the power JUST came back on, but that things wouldn't be ready for at least 30 minutes. OK, no lunch at Chilis.

So we headed to Applebees. And texted the other girls. Who just turned out to be Veronica. Everyone else had something else come up. Sick kids, stitches, work.... So it was Terra and Veronica and I had lunch together.

Hmmm, which one should I have???

Terra got an appetizer of queso and chips. And I just HAD to take a picture of this chip for Captain America. Because he would have LOVED it! hehe :)
I decided on the Philly Burger. I didn't eat the top bun, and got a salad instead of the fries, and it was SOOOO good. Yummy!

We had fun visiting and chatting and eating. And then it was time to go. Veronica invited Tom and Jake and Eme over to play with her kids later in the day. Sounded good to me!

So I headed back on post, and went to the on-post DMV. Because my tags were expired. And, of course, they were closed. They SHOULD have been open, but they were closed. Sigh. At least I know that the Gate Guard don't check for such things. I just need to make sure that I don't get an MP at the gate, cause they look more closely. They're gonna be open on Monday. So I'll go then.

And I got home, and changed into comfy clothes. Cause everything is WAY too tight. Sigh. All the desserts aren't helping. One of these days, I'm gonna get "back on the wagon".

I designed for a while today, and organized my quote ideas, and looked for some CU friendly free fonts. And found quite a few, actually. I think I installed about 99 on my laptop. Yes! Gotta like that.

And we cleaned up a little bit, and then the big kids went over to Veronica's house around 3:30pm. And ended up staying to spend the night. Even better! I get a night off!!! Well, I get 2 kids, but two is SO easy :) hehe.

And look at poor Jimmy's eye. I'm not sure what's wrong with it. It's not red inside. Just on the skin part.... Hopefully it looks better tomorrow. I gave him some benadryl.
You can't really tell in this picture, can you...

Anyway, we had something or another for dinner, and the kids watched some movies. And I sat on the couch with them and designed. And I straightened up a little bit more, and put the kids to bed around 7:30 or 8pm. And I watched some TV episodes, and designed and now I'm blogging.

And yeah, it was a good day. And I did feel a lot better. I still need to control my eating, but at least my emotions were in check. And that's important. I'm really greatful for friends today. Who went to lunch with me. Who brought me a slice of peanut butter cake. Who texted to check on me. Who called to chat with me. Who let my kids spend the night at their house. Who offer up prayers in my families behalf. Thanks, everyone :)

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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I TOTALLY agree, Sharon - hehe :)

I'm Awake. Let's Party!

Happy Friday! Click HERE to go to my store to check out ALL the new stuff! Enjoy! (All layouts by Sharon)








Ha! Yea, this WordArt SO didn't fit my Thursday. But you know what, maybe I'll make it fit my Friday. There's a good goal for myself :)

Well, the day finally came. The day that I felt like I was gonna fall apart. And the fact that it's been about 26 days isn't too bad, right? I made it quite a while without a break down... As I sit here typing this, tears are brimming in my eyes, and I'm SO trying to hold it all together. I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up....

I woke up this morning, knowing that it was gonna be another snow day for the kids. And don't get me wrong. I adore my kids. I really do. But they're good in small doses (hehe). Cause there's SO many of them. And it's SO stinking cold outside, that they can only be out for limited times. With wind chill, I think it was -12 or something. Crazy, for El Paso.

Anyway, I had told them that they could watch TV or play Just Dance 2 quietly when they woke up. And at 8:00am, I heard the fighting over something or another, so made them turn it off, and ALL go to their rooms. Except Jim, who had JUST woke up. So he came and snuggled with me for about 30 minutes. And then we went out and got breakfast, and I let the kids out of their rooms.

(deep breaths...)

The kids all went outside to play between 9 and 10am, and I started on chores. I cleaned in the kitchen for a little while, and I got some laundry started. And while I was taking a break, I heard a LOUD rushing of water noise. Yeah, not good. I was in the middle of emailing my CT girls, and left it where it was, and RAN for the laundry room. And the drain hose for the washer was backing up, emptying at FULL speed into the laundry room. And spilling out into the hall, and near the stairs, and boxers kennel closet, and the kids clothes closet, and the dining room, and nearing the kitchen. Whaaaat? NOOOOO!

I turned off the water hoses, but it didn't seem to help. A few seconds later, I realized that i needed to turn off the washer (duh), and once it turned off, I realize that I was being shocked (just a tiny jold). I WAS standing in water, touching an running appliance, after all. Sigh.

NOW what was I gonna do? We tried to stop the water from flowing into other room, and laying down towels kinda helped. And I grabbed the mop, and the bucket with the wringer, and started to work. The kids all kept back, and tried to keep Boxer out of the mess. And I spent about 2 hours cleaning up. It SUCKED. But I did it. But this isn't where I fell apart. I was still in, "just get it done" mode. So bucket full after bucket full, I got the water out of the house.

And at 12:30pm, I got the kids a quick lunch, and told them to play electronics, but to NOT make the house any more messy than it already was. And I headed over to Terra's house. She lives just a few block away. And I walked, because I didn't wanna brave the roads. And brought my mini loaf pans and cake pans, because she was baking for a bake sale.

And yeah, the roads weren't bad at all. I totally could have driven :) It was SO nice to just hang at her house for the hour and a half, and have grown up conversation. We cooked a red velvet cake (which didn't turn out - hmpf!), and a peanut butter cake, and some muffins. Mostly I just watched and washed a few dishes - hehe.

And, feeling all good and refreshed, I headed back home around 2 or 2:30 ish. The kids were mostly playing nicely, and I went into the kitchen to bake some. I had another cake mix to replace the red velvet one that didn't work. And I was gonna try and make those cake ball truffle thingys. So I mixed up the red velvet cake with the frosting, and made cake balls, and put them in the freezer.

Then, I made up a carrot cake mix, and filled 2 round cake pans, and popped it in the oven for 25 minutes. And had JUST enough time to run to the commissary and buy some melting chocolates for the truffles. It was gonna work perfectly :)

So I got in Captain America's car (that I haven't driven in a few days because it was low on gas - LOL! I should have just filled it up!) and headed over to the commissary. And I got to the check point in the commissary, and couldn't find my ID. Where could it be? I searched my wallet, and my purse, but no, it wasn't there.

So, I headed back to the car. And THAT is when it hit me. I was alone. No husband. No ID. No melting chocolates. And I could feel the tears coming. I got in the car, and headed home. Feeling SO sad. SO alone. A few tears spilled over, but I didn't lose it. I held it together. And stopped at the gas station on the way home. And filled up the car.

And parked in the garage, and went to the truck, and there was my ID, in the middle console. right where it DIDN'T belong. And I knew that Heavenly Father was watching over me. And was gonna help me. And that I'd be ok.

I came inside the house, JUST as my cake timer was going off. And the carrot cakes looked pretty good. I remembered that I had some bakers chocolate in the cupboard, and melted that in my mini crock pot thing. And I added white sugar to it, but yeah, that didn't really help. Then I added some butter, and some powdered sugar. Yeah, not that either. I really think it was because I didn't have my apron on. I"m telling ya, it's good luck. And I didn't have it.

I eventually settled on drizzling the nasty chocolate stuff over the balls, and calling it good. If Terra doesn't want them, then the kids can eat them. And I frosted the carrot cake with the cream cheese frosting, and put it in the fridge.

And designed a WordArt pack. And then started on dinner. I had left over spaghetti (yeah, NOT on my menu), and the kids had French Toast. And I started folding laundry. All 10 loads of it. I know, I know, it SUCKS when you let it get to that point. But I did.

And I mostly just separated it into kids piles, and gave the 3 older ones their to put away, and folded the 2 little boys laundry, and had them put it away. And the towels and dish towels and dish rags got put away, and the other odds and ends stuff got put away. And then I swept really good in the rooms, and got the kids going on their chores.

And at 7pm, I told them that they had 1 hour to get their chores done and the house cleaned. That Mom needed a break, and was going to her room. And IF the house was clean at 8pm, that I'd watch Chuck with the big boys. Because the little kids were going to bed at 8pm regardless.

And I came into my room, and THAT's when I lost it. I knelt down and said a prayer, and ended up sobbing. And I don't know that I"ve gained much composure since then. Hopefully blogging about this all will help me. I really do know that I can do it. I know that today was just a bad day. That tomorrow will be better. It'd BETTER be better - hehe.

I'm just having "I suck" feelings today. I've gained about 15 lbs in the past couple of months. And yeah, some of that is muscle, but not all of it. And I'm starting to notice the rolls again cause my pants are getting too tight. And that really sucks. And yet, I can't seem to make myself be in control of my eating. Eating a dozen cookies at a setting is NOT good. I keep trying, though. Every morning when I wake up, I tell myself that I'm gonna be good. And I do try, for a while.

I think it was just hard today, where it was the 2nd day in a row that the kids were home from school. And my routine was disrupted. And I didn't have my normal exercising. Or my typical adult interaction. And I didn't shower and get pretty. And was feeling fat. NOT a good combo.

So, tomorrow is yet ANOTHER snow day. See, El Paso is NOT cut out for cold weather. And since EVERYONE is using their heat, there's not enough power/gas to go around. So the city is having rolling blackouts. And, to conserve power, the schools are staying closed. It's supposed to warm up to 40 by Saturday. So, pray for us, that the kids will go back to school on Monday. Because, honestly, I don't think I could handle another unplanned "snow" day....

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. thanks!

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Free As A Bird

Oh if only today's WordArt were true... hehe. Just kidding. I don't wanna be free. I don't.... Convince me - ROFL!

See, I woke up this morning, BEFORE my alarm, because the kids had to come in and tell me THERE'S SNOW OUTSIDE!!!!! Sigh. Ok, snow outside.... I checked on Facebook (yeah, I go to facebook BEFORE the news...) and my friends were all saying that EPISD was closed for the day. No school. AND Ft Bliss was closed for the day too. Well, at least I could go back to bed!

So I tried to go back to bed, but the kids kept coming in, wanting to go outside. And I guess they finally did, because soon Jimmy came back in FREEZING. I snuggled with him to get him warmed back up, chatted with Captain America for a few minutes on Skype, and got up. And got the kids properly dressed for playing outside. Because it was like 7 degrees or something like that. Yeah FREEZING!

Oh yeah, and when I said that it had snowed, I meant about an inch. hehe. And all of El Paso shuts down. Jake was like, Why don't they buy snow plows. And I had to explain how we only get snow once every few years, and the tax payers don't wanna pay for snow plows to use only every few years. I don't know if he understood or not, but it made sense to me - hehe.

And then I really looked at the house. And yeah, it was SO messy! Take a look at Jim/Joe/Eme's room. Pitiful!

Yeah, we were DEFINITELY gonna have a "clean the house" day. I made the kids come inside at 10am, change clothes, get warm, and we started on chores. I had Jake and Tom clean the dining room, and Eme/Joe/Jim work on the living room. And I took the kitchen. I did a load of dishes, swept, and went through the cupboards. I rearranged the spice cupboard, and straightened up a few other cupboards. And felt REALLY good afterwords.

So I decided to make some cookies. See, I'd tried to make cookies last night, and got distracted. So I left the Brown Sugar and butter in the bowl, and got back to it today. And yeah, NOT a good idea in El Paso. Cause it's SO dry... Yeah, my brown sugar was a ROCK. NOT good... I tried to reconstitute it, but yeah, NOT working.

Looks like dog poop in a bag - hehe. I was SO concerned with getting it to useable again, until I realized that I could always get new brown sugar. Duh! hehe. So I got a new scoop, and made my dough.

See, SOOO much better!And then I decided WHY my cookies and things hadn't been working lately. I hadn't been wearing my apron! The second I put it on, EVERYTHING magically turned out! hehe. See, it IS lucky!

The cookies were SOOO good. Too good. I ate WAY too many. I just kept telling myself that they were small, so it wasn't so bad. hehe. Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies with pink frosting. OMHeavens! I put some sprinkles on them, and packaged up 2 dozen for Captain America's Valentines box, and the kids and I ate the other 6 dozen - wow, that sounds REALLY bad.... THEY WERE SMALL! hehe :)

You can find the recipe HERE.

And then at 11am, I had the kids clean their rooms. OMHeavens, they were ALL messy. The rest of the house was looking pretty good, though... I finally had to come and help Joe and Jim got their parts done. Eme was pretty good. Jake's room was by and far the cleanest. Tom's was the worst. But, they were all passable around lunch time.

I made mac n cheese and hot dogs for the kids, and had my cheese sandwich and cucumber. And too many cookies - hehe. I'll do better tomorrow, right?

Oh yeah, check out this NEW Herbal Tea I found. It's SO yummy!

I went outside with the kids in the afternoon, after rooms and chores were done, and walked the dog, and took pictures of the kids playing in the snow. And yeah, I can't get the memory card to download them onto my computer, for some reason.... So there's no pictures of the fun time in the snow.... Sigh.

We all came back inside relatively soon, because it felt like -2. Seriously. -2 degrees in El Paso! Warm cider all around, and I opened up electronics for the kids. Jake did school (yeah, he wasn't happy about that), and the kids took hour shifts on the laptops. Eme and Tom first hour, Joe and Jim 2nd hour. And I watched some Star Trek, Next Generation for a while, and designed. I ended up getting 5 WordArt packs done!

And then it was dinner time. I was supposed to make chili, but soup and biscuits sounded better. So I made soup. But see, the kids HATE soup. So I had to have a "gimick". I put a bunch of water in the pot, and added 2 packs of Basil, Garlic, and Tomato Marinade. I added chopped celery, and onion, and potatoes, and garlic. And then I took a lb of turkey sausage, and Tom and I rolled it into tiny little balls. And dropped it in the boiling water. And it made little tiny meat balls. And they LOVED it. Eme helped me make the biscuits. And then we all had dinner together. And back to the electronics they went.

I went into my room for an hour, and designed. And told the kids to not bother me - hehe. And then chatted with my mom for a bit. But then I heard the kids playing Just Dance 2. And yeah, it didn't take long before I'd put away what I was doing, and joined them. And I played from 7:30-10:30pm. HOLY CRAP! That was a LONG time to play - hehe. I have high score on all songs but one. Eme was getting more and more upset the longer I played, because I was beating ALL of her high scores. hehe. And as much as I wanted to feel bad, I didn't really - hehe. Sorry, Em!

I put the kids to bed at 10pm (yeah, no school AGAIN tomorrow...), and danced for a bit longer, finally turning it off at 10:30pm, and grabbing my computer. And here it is, almost 11:30pm, and I'm done blogging. And just need to host the wordart for tomorrow, and I'm done. And going to bed. Because 3 hours of Just Dance 2 can really wear a girl out! hehe.

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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Very cool, Sharon! Lovin' the colors!!!

One In A Million

Hey there girlies! How goes your day? Was it a good Tuesday? Mine was pretty good :)

I heard the kids outside my room, playing or carrying on or something at about 6am. And yeah, my alarm wasn't going off until closer to 7am. So they kept coming in, asking silly questions, and I kept trying to sleep :)

I finally gave up a little before 7am, and went out to get the kids ready. It was supposed to be cold during the day, so I made sure people had real coats on (hehe to my northern friends!) and scarfs or gloves or whatever they wanted. Warm is good.

And I went back to bed after the bus. But yeah, I didn't really go back to sleep. But I did try. And about 30 minutes later, Captain America called on Skype, so I chatted with him for a while. About 30 minutes. It was nice talking to him.

And then, because it was #1 priority for the day, I took a shower :) It felt SO good. I can't even remember when was the last time I did (yeah, probably shouldn't be saying that....). And it was shave everything day, so now I can go swimming again - ROFL! I know, I know, TMI...

And I blow dried my hair, and put on make up, and some cute clothes, and even if I still had a cold, I felt SO much better! Not to mention the Sudafed was non-drowsy... That's gotta help, too :)

And soon, it was time to take Jim to the bus. He wanted Spikey hair today, so after a bath, I gelled his hair, and he was SO happy with it. And we drove on up to the bus stop. And it was SO cold (30 degrees) that we stayed in the truck the whole time :) hehe. And, of course, took pictures :)



And he got on the bus, and I headed off to the Dollar Tree to look for things for Captain America's Valentines box :)

I picked up a few things, and some more stuff for the 100 days of school (cause I can't make up my mind what to use - hehe), and headed to Walmart. I wanted to get some cucumbers (since the commissary didn't have any yesterday) and a few baking supplies. I wanted to put cookies into Captain America's box.

I got home a little after noon, and had lunch with Jake. We watched a Star Trek movie, and I worked on this project. Cool pictures, huh?



My mom is in Young Womens in her ward, and took pictures of all the girls, and sent them to me, and I got them ready to go to the store, 6 to a 4x6. Then, they're gonna cut them apart, and make hearts out of it. I have a pic on here to show you what it should look like. But I just used my printer at home. It would be cooler on photo paper :)

And Sharon made this COOL layout for me :)

Here ya go, huh? Isn't it kinda cool???

I walked to the bus to pick up Jimmy, and about FROZE to death! Seriously - hehe :) It was only 30 something, and I was FREEZING! I needed more than a jacket, I think! Jim and I hurried home, and the next hour just ZIPPED by! I wanted to make cookies for the kids at the library, but yeah, the recipe I picked was a total BOMB! The dough ended up looking like biscuit dough before you add the milk. Seriously. I did try and cook a batch, and while they tasted ok, they were crap. Kinda looked like bologna slices. Hehe. We joked that they were bologna cookies :)

So no cookies to take to the library. This was the 2nd week in a row that the cookie idea was a bust. Maybe 3rd try is the charm, right? Next week...

Anyway, I picked up the kids from the bus stop, and headed over to the library. Capri Suns, Popcorn, and a movie about Alligators and Crocodiles. It was pretty gruesome, acutally. Baby alligators getting eaten by bigger things (or other alligators), or brother/sister birds pecking the little one to death, then throwing it to the crocodiles. Yeah, SO nasty. But I guess that's nature, right...

After the movie, the kids begged and convinced me to go to the library section, and look at books. And we stayed there longer than we should have. Because soon it was too late to go home before taking Tom to babysitter class. Crap...

So we headed over to the Sky's building, but then I realized that I had to feed him first. And I couldn't very well go through McDonlads drive up and NOT get dinner for everyone else too. So I got everyone burgers and fries and Tom got a drink to take with him. And we headed off to the Sky's building, 15 minutes late. I HATE being late....

And I walked in with Tom, to show him the room to go in, and there was no class there. I know I asked the lady at the registration office if it was at the Sky's building. Maybe she meant a different one. Sigh.

So I asked the lady at the office where I should go. And she didn't know. But she thought it was across from the soccer fields on post, building 195. Great. No we were REALLY gonna be late... So Tom and I loaded back up in the truck with the kids, and back to post we headed.

And I texted Laurie, and she said it was building 131. Yeah, that's REAL close to 195, right? hehe. But I found the building, took Tom inside, and found the right place. And left him with the other kids :)

And we headed home. Laurie was gonna pick up kids this week, and I'm gonna get them next week. At least the class is right here on post, and not CLEAR across town at the Sky's building. MUCH more do-able...

And when we got home, I let Eme do the lip pictures too. She thought it was SO much fun :)

I spent about an hour helping kids with homework, and doing chores, and cooking myself dinner (no McDonalds for me), and just hanging with the kids, and then it was time for my Scrapbookgraphics chat to start! So I left Jake in charge, told the kids once they got their own chores done that they could turn on an episode of Avatar.

And the chat was SO much fun!!! There was an awesome group of girls there, and we chatted and played games and stayed longer to chat some more :) And then, I saw that someone was trying to break into my room. See, I'd locked the door - ha! Trying to keep the riff raff out, you know... Anyhow, Jim came in, and said that his tooth hurt. And I looked in his mouth, and he was MISSING A BOTTOM TOOTH!!!
I hurried and got off the chat, and went out with the kids. See that white thing he's holding? Apparently, he tried to put it in between his teeth, and it got stuck. So he pulled and pulled, and finally got it loose. And yeah, the tooth must have came too. We never did find the tooth. Nastiness. Teeth are gross!

So we finished cleaning up, and I put the kids to bed. Late. It was almost 9pm by the time they went to sleep. And no watching Chuck for Jake and Tom and I since it was getting so late. I just sat down on the couch with my laptop and my dog. hehe.

Oh yeah, and check out the snow. Whaaaat? It's not supposed to snow here, you know... I'm hoping it's gone and it's warm by morning, but the kids are hoping that they cancel school. hehe :)And now it's 10:30pm, and I'm done. Once my show is over, I'm going to sleep. And we'll see what happens in the morning :)

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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SO cute, Sharon! LOVIN' it!

FEBRUARY

First off, I just wanted to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to my mom!!! She's older today, and I LOVE her! Eat a BIG piece of cake for me today, ok?? Or maybe the kids and I will bake a cake in your honor....hmmm, I'm liking that plan already!

Wow girls... I'm glad that I took the day off. Because if I hadn't, I think I might have keeled over dead. hehe.

I woke up at 6:30am ish, read scriptures, said prayers, and went out to get kids ready. My voice wasn't really working, but I pressed on. I got the kids fed and dressed and out the door at 7:35 am for the bus. And I chatted with my mom on Gmail chat for a while, and tried to talk myself into going grocery shopping. I felt like crap, and wanted to go to bed, but my family needed food :)

I chatted with Captain America on Skype for quite a while, and then at 10am, was ready for shopping. I printed out the list, left Jake with directions for putting Jimmy on the bus, and off I went. I think part of my problem is that I haven't had a soda since Friday. So that's 3 days of detoxing. hehe. I have taken Excedrine something or another, which has caffeine, but not a lot. NOw is as good a time as any to wean off if it, right? I'd rather not be dependent.

Anyhow, I drugged myself up, and headed out. I had a TON of things to do on my TO DO list...

First stop, CYS. Children and Youth Services, I think is what it stands for. See, we have free sports and activity hours, but need to be registered in order to use it. We WERE registered, but it lapsed a while back. So I needed to go and re-register.

All the kids needed new physicals, but if I filled out a few forms right there, then Tom could get re-registered enough to get signed up for the Babysitters Class. So I took my paperwork back up to the front and filled it out. And then got back in line. And since I was gonna be there for a while, I multi-tasked and called the doctors office to set up appointments.

And you know those annoying little tickles in the back of your throat that come at the WORST possible time? Yeah, I got one of those. And my eyes were totally watering, I was sneezing, and coughing, and trying to talk on the phone in a public place ALL at the same time. It was joyous...

But I managed, somehow. Thank goodness I threw in 4-5 cough drops in my pocket before I left the house. At least I felt like I was doing something proactive to stop it, right? Even if it really doesn't - hehe.

So I got appointments set up for 2 on a Wednesday of one week, 2 on a Tuesday of the following week, and 1 on the Wednesday after that. So 5 doctors visits within a weeks time span. Yeah, that's gonna be a GREAT time. hehe.

And then it was my turn again to turn in paperwork, and I got Tom registered. He's all signed up for the Babysitter class, which is from 5-8 pm, every Tuesday this month. Should be a good time. Laurie's daughter, Elise, is in the class to, so we're gonna work out car pooling.

And then I headed to the commissary. And got a weeks worth of food for my gang. And was feeling somewhat ok. At least I wasn't coughing my brains out anymore... The lines weren't that long, and I was in an out in an hour or so. It was pretty busy, though, since today was kinda payday (people with USAA get paid a day early). Early Payday, I guess you could call it. But they had a ton of checkers open, so it was moving fast.

And then I swung by the TMC (Troop Medical Clinic?) to get a print out of the kids' immunization records for re-registration with CYS. That took a while, then, while I was there, I decided to get some "free meds". Every 2 weeks we can get some OTC meds (up to 4), so since I was out of my fake Sudafed (LOVE that stuff), I decided to put in an "order". I only had to wait about 5 minutes. I got Sudafed, some antibiotic cream, Tylenol Jr, and Cepocal cough drops. Sounded PERFECT to me.

And I headed back home with my paperwork and groceries. And stopped by the mailbox first, then home. And I got some Tax papers. Good! I'd been waiting for them. Jake unloaded the truck for me, and i put all the groceries away. And I made myself some lunch real fast, and I got the EHD all ready for Captain America, packaged up and such, and Jake and Boxer and I headed out on round 2 of errands.

First stop, post office. And there was a MASSIVE line. I think I must have been there 10 minutes waiting. Sigh. But I got it shipped. A large flat rate box for $12.95, I think. It was cheaper than I thought it was gonna be, for some reason...

And then we drove clear across town to redeem our free 20 lb bag of dog food. It expired today - hehe. We got 20 lbs a month from a nicer pet store in town, from the Humane Society. Free dog food for a year. Can't beat that! IF you don't forget about it. And since today was the 31st, yeah, it HAD to be done today.

Boxer LOVED the store, and Jake had a hard time containing him. hehe. TOO many new smells, I think. We loaded back up, and headed back on post. And made it JUST in the nick of time to get Jim from the bus. Pfew! I was a little worried. We were about 4 minutes early, in fact!

And then we headed home.




Oh yeah, check out ALL the flat rate boxes I scored at the post office - hehe. Now I can get it all ready and fill out the customs forms and junk BEFORE I get in line. I'm learning.... slowly, but surely. ha!

I sat down on the couch at 2:30pm, and looked at my taxes for a little while. Because that's relaxing, right? hehe. I went through Turbo Tax's free program (for military), and found out that I think we'll be getting money back this year. Pfew! I was worried, since I own a small business, and they haven't been taking very much out of Captain America's check. Anyhoo, I'll finish that off later.

I ran out of time, and had to head on up to the school to get the kids from AQ. And I was starting to feel tired. I think I'd overdone it today. Kari and Laurie and I canceled hiking today to let me rest. Ha! I don't think I know how to rest...

I got back home, got the kids a snack, and sat on the couch. And tried to direct chores from the couch, but it wasn't really working too well. And worked on the taxes a little bit more. But it was making me edgy. At one point, I sent EVERYONE to their rooms for 20 minutes, and it was VERY peaceful. But then they all came back out again - hehe.

I made dinner around 5:30pm, spaghetti, and then started work on a project for Jim. They're having a 100th day of school celebration on Thursday. So they needed to make something with 100 thigns on it. LIke 100 pieces of rice. Or cereal. Or noodles. Or candy.

I wanted to make a 100 photos of Jim collage. Yeah, and I even thought it would be neat to do it for all the kids, until I actually started on Jims. It took FOREVER! Sorry, other Harty kids. I'm NOT doing this again - hehe. :) If anyone else wants to grab some photos of my other kids from faceboook, I'll gladly send you the "frame". hehe.

It turned out looking pretty cool, though.
Jake and Tom and I put the kids to bed at 8:00pm, and the big boys and I watched an episode of Chuck. And I started blogging. And it's now 8:43pm. The big kids are in their room. All noises have ceased from the little kids room (just 20 minutes ago there were LOUD noises coming from in there...). Even the dog is asleep. I love this time of night. hehe.

I think I'm gonna go and watch some TV. I tried an episode of "Being Human", but I think I didn't watch the one my mom was talking about. She wanted me to watch one on USA network here in the states. And the one I watched was definitely British. And had lots of "buns". hehe. I was like, Mom, WHAT on Earth were you watching ( I couldn't see my mom recommending a show with THAT much naked in it...) - hehehe. Then I realized that I must have been watching the "original", and she was watching the US version. I might give the US version a go tonight and see if I like it :)

So, my friends, wish me a speedy recovery. Because, I don't think I could handle another "Sick" day. I might collapse dead!

Oh yeah, one more thing! I'm the Designer of the Week over at Scrapbookgraphics this week, and we're having a chat Tuesday night! Come and join us and chat, if you want! I think it's 7 or 8pm MST. Can't remember for sure. I think it's 7pm my time, though... I'll figure it out before time, and post it on my Facebook Fan Page :)

Sharon, my dear, these two layouts are FABULOUS!!!

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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